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The Power of Social BusinessLessons from Corporate engagements with grameen

Yunus Social Business (YSB) creates and empowers social businesses around the world to sustainably solve social problems. Cofounded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, YSB initiates and manages incubator funds for social businesses in developing countries. YSB aims to promote livelihoods and development with a focus on vulnerable and underserved communities by scaling up market-oriented and self-sustaining businesses that are designed to address pressing social or environmental problems. Its team of consulting, entrepreneurial, venture capital, and development experts is based in Germany, with subsidiaries in Haiti, Albania, Colombia, Brazil, Tunisia, and Uganda. For more information, please visit yunussb.com.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 78 offices in 43 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.

November 2013 | The Boston Consulting Group

The Power of Social BuSineSS

LessoNs from CorporaTe eNGaGemeNTs wiTh GrameeN

UlrICH VIllIS

rAIner STrACk

MUHAMMAd YUnUS

SASkIA BrUYSTen

2 | The power of social Business

conTenTS

3 IntroductIon

5 the Value of SocIal BuSIneSSSocial BenefitsBusiness Benefits

11 deVelopIng a SucceSSful SocIal BuSIneSSChoosing the Right Focus Area Designing a Successful Business ModelContinuously Learning and AdaptingBuilding Efficient and Sustainable OperationsManaging for Impact

22 lookIng forward

24 appendIx: SocIal BuSIneSS profIleS

30 note to the reader

The Boston Consulting Group • Yunus social Business | 3

The distinction between the business and social sectors is becoming increasingly fluid. Corporations are seeking to more

actively address the challenges faced by society, and they are leverag-ing their business expertise to do so. Social organizations are looking to companies in the private sector for the best practices, skills, and know-how needed to deliver greater value to populations in need and to increase operational efficiency.

New approaches such as impact investing, hybrid value chains, and shared value are emerging at the intersection of the social and business sectors, aiming to blend the best of both worlds.1 In 2011 alone, 60 impact investing funds were created, raising the combined total capital available for social investments to an estimated $40 billion.2 About 2.8 percent of U.S. workers are already involved in hybrid social enterprises.3 And the European Union estimates that 25 percent of all new enterprises in Europe can be considered social enterprises.4

Within this context, the concept of “social businesses”—companies with a primary objective of solving a social problem by applying business principles—has attracted particular attention. This report takes a closer look at social businesses from the perspective of a corporate organization. It highlights the value of the concept and how companies can develop a social business, with a special focus on the lessons and best practices needed to succeed.

While the report focuses on best practices for social businesses, many of the same lessons can be applied more broadly to other ventures at the intersection of the social and business sectors.

The report has been written in collaboration with Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2006, founder of the Grameen Bank, and early developer and implementer of the social business concept. It is based on an analysis of the lessons learned from ten social businesses that operate in Bangladesh today, each tackling a different social problem affecting people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. (See Exhibit 1.)

Many of the social businesses described are joint ventures between a Grameen organization and a multinational partner such as Danone, Intel, Veolia, and BASF. While several of the businesses are still in the learning stage, others—such as Grameen Shakti and Grameen GC Eye Care Hospital—have already achieved social impact, significant scale, and financial self-sufficiency.

inTroducTion


The contents of this report are based on on-site workshops with managing directors and key staff, site visits and customer interviews, interviews with corporate partners, a web survey of the managing directors, and a detailed data analysis.

Notes1. Impact investments aim to create positive social impact beyond financial returns. For more information, see EVPA, “European Venture Philanthropy Industry 2010/2011,” May 2012. Hybrid value chains leverage business and social-sector capabilities to provide cost-effective delivery of goods and services to poor populations. For more information, see the explanation of hybrid value chains at the Ashoka website, https://www.ashoka.org/hvc. The shared value concept suggests that businesses can create social value and thereby advance their competitiveness at the same time. For more information, see Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, “Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility,” Harvard Business Review, December 2006.2. Cathy Clark, et al. “The Impact Investor—A Market Emerges: The Six Dynamics of Impact Investing,” October 2012.3. Siri Terjesen, et al. “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Report on Social Entrepreneurship,” 2011.4. European Commission, “The Social Business Initiative of the European Commission,” 2012.

GrameenDanone Foods

Problemaddressed

Solutionoffered

Child malnutrition

Poverty reduction

Affordable yogurt fortified with micro-nutrients (since 2007)

Income generation in local communities

GrameenVeolia Water

Arsenic-contaminated water in rural areas

Clean water throughvillage tap points(since 2008)

BASF Grameen

Risk of malaria inparts of the country

Affordable and long-lasting mosquito nets (since 2009)

Grameen Intel Social Business

Inefficient useof fertilizers

Lack of adequate maternal health care

Easy-to-use IT solutions (since 2009)

GrameenYukiguni Maitake

Poverty and theunderemployment

Employment for the poor through mungbean cultivation (since 2010)

Shortage of nurses and lack of access to medical care among poor and rural communities

Nursing education for underprivileged girls (since 2010)

GrameenShakti

Lack of electricity

Unhealthy living environment

Clean energy (since 1996) with:1

• solar home systems• cooking stoves• biogas plants

Grameen Distribution

Lack of access tobasic products in rural areas

Social and consumer products distributed door to door in rural areas (since 2011)

GrameenFabrics & Fashions

Poverty and underemployment

Employment for the poor through local production of such items as mosquito nets (since 2012)

Grameen CaledonianCollege of Nursing

Problemaddressed

Solutionoffered

Grameen GCEye Care Hospital

Limited access tospecialty eye treatment forthe poor

Affordable eye-careexaminations and surgeries for the rural poor (since 2007)

Source: BCG.1Originally founded as a nonprofit organization, Grameen Shakti was transformed into a social business in 2010.

Exhibit 1 | The Analyzed Grameen Social Businesses Address a Variety of Problem Areas


The Value of Social BuSineSS

Imagine a world in which electricity reaches even the most remote rural families in develop-

ing countries—those living far from today’s existing grid system—and provides them a means of working and studying late into the evenings. Imagine further that this electricity is green energy—solar home systems or biogas plants, for example. And imagine it were sold to the customers—most of whom live on less than $2 a day—for a price that makes the business financially sustainable and keeps it from depending on ongoing aid payments.

Impossible, you might say. And then you might travel to Bangladesh and come across Grameen Shakti, a social business that is thriving on just such a business model.

Many of the world’s most pressing social problems are so ingrained and widespread that they cannot be addressed solely by gov-ernments and traditional social-sector organi-zations. Solving these problems requires a va-riety of approaches from the private and public sectors alike. To this end, a wide range of new models is emerging along a spectrum that spans from nonprofits supported entirely by donations at one end to purely profit-ori-ented businesses at the other. By combining business principles with social objectives, these emerging models bridge the social and private sectors. Their various approaches can be distinguished both by the relative empha-sis they place on social objectives versus prof-

it objectives and by the degree to which they seek to generate their own revenues.

applying business principles to social problems can increase effectiveness and financial sustainability.

On this spectrum, social businesses fall some-where between traditional NGOs and for-profit companies. (See Exhibit 2.) Like NGOs, their primary objective is to create social im-pact. At the same time, they operate like busi-nesses and aim to generate sufficient reve-nues to at least cover their operating costs. Other emerging models, which lean further to the business side, try to weigh profit and social objectives equally; for instance, by aim-ing to generate at least a minimum profit while also pursuing a social impact goal. More toward the nonprofit side, business-in-spired NGOs aim to generate at least some additional revenue by pricing their services, yet without the ambition to reach financial sustainability.

although all these emerging models vary in the degree to which they combine profit tar-gets with social targets, they all are built around the same basic belief: applying busi-


ness principles to social problems can signifi-cantly increase efficiency, effectiveness, and financial sustainability. That’s why many of the lessons from social businesses presented in this report can also be applied to other emerging business models.

Exact definitions of “social business” vary. In this report, we use the definition established by professor Yunus: a financially sustainable organization created solely to solve a social problem. Whereas original investments may be recouped, all potential profits are reinvest-ed to further increase the organization’s so-cial impact.1

Because social businesses don’t have as a goal increasing shareholder value or paying dividends, they are free to focus on the needi-est, most underserved segments of the world’s populations—segments that tradi-tionally fall outside the focus of profit-driven businesses. And because they price their products and services in a way that generates enough revenue to be self-sustaining in the long-term, these organizations do not depend on donations or other forms of external fi-nancial support to deliver their mission. Ulti-mately, social businesses maximize value de-livered to society as opposed to the financial value delivered to shareholders.

Today, social businesses exist in developing and developed countries alike. Although many are still in the early phases of develop-ment, some—like Grameen Shakti, which has revenues of about €72 million and more than 12,000 employees—demonstrate the poten-tial scale of these ventures. Most important, however, are the social and business benefits that these organizations deliver. (See Ex-hibit 3.)

Social BenefitsWith their focus on social impact and self-sustainability, social businesses can theoreti-cally provide solutions to almost any social problem. As demonstrated by the range of so-cial businesses analyzed in this study, such problems include fighting hunger and malnu-trition, increasing the agricultural productiv-ity of rural populations, offering poor rural households access to an environmentally friendly electricity supply, providing employ-ment opportunities in areas where jobs are limited, and improving the health and life ex-pectancy of local populations.

One example is Grameen GC Eye Care Hospi-tal, which was founded in 2007 to tackle the prevalence of blindness and eye conditions such as farsightedness among the poorest

Products/servicespriced for sale

Businessmodel

Primaryobjective

Social entrepreneurs

N/A Price ≥ Costs2 Price > Costs

Maximizessocial impact

Funded throughdonations

Socialimpact

Socialimpact

Commercialsuccess

Price < Costs

Socialimpact

Price > Costs

Ensures socialstandards

Maximizesprofitability


Financiallyself-sustainable

SocialBusiness

Business-inspired NGO

Balancedsocial/profit

business1BusinessNGO


Partially fundedthrough donations


Maximizesprofitability

Social impactand commercial

success

Source: BCG analysis.1These include legal entities such as B-corporations (benefit corporations) in the U.S., Patagonia is one example.2At least over the long term.

Exhibit 2 | Social Businesses Are at the Intersection of Nonprofit and Business Sectors


populations in Bangladesh. The hospital pro-vides low-cost eye care—including eye exams and cataract surgery—at three locations, and it extends its reach into the poorest, most ru-ral areas through its traveling “eye camps.” By charging patients for its services based on their ability to pay, the hospital is affordable.

The solutions are designed to provide long-lasting, self-perpetuating benefits.

Although 20 percent of its 545,000 patients receive services at a very reduced price, the hospital still manages to break even due to its efficient operations and the income from higher-margin patients. To date, an estimated 2,500 blind patients have regained their eye-sight as a result of the hospital’s services. In addition, the business has created 237 local jobs. Now that the model has proven its via-bility, efforts are under way to scale it up fur-

ther, and two other eye-care hospitals are un-der construction.

Similarly, the other social businesses highlighted in this report create tangible social impact—the degree and extent of which depends on the business stage they are operating in. Grameen Danone Foods, for example, reaches more than 300,000 customers with fortified yogurt, and preliminary scientific studies point to the impact that the yogurt has on children’s growth rates and ability to concentrate.

BASF Grameen’s insecticide-treated mosquito nets (which are sourced from Grameen Fabrics & Fashions, another social business) protect more than 75,000 families from insect-borne diseases. Grameen Shakti’s solar home systems provide more than 1.2 million families with access to clean electricity, and Shakti’s improved cooking stoves create a cleaner living environment for roughly 700,000 households. Grameen Yukiguni Maitake has created 8,000 jobs in the cultivation of mung beans, providing new

Provides innovative solutions to social problems • Yet requires a clear value proposition tailored to

customers’ needs

Creates results that last well beyond the initialinvestment• Reaching financial sustainability is a challenge that

requires a thoughtful business model

Empowers beneficiaries by transforming themfrom aid recipients into consumers with choices• Pricing must be adapted to ability to pay

Improves accountability by using sales figures as abuilt-in mechanism to evaluate user acceptance• These must be combined with measures showing the

extent to which the most disadvantaged are reached

Leverages the business mindset to increaseefficiency• Systems for tracking social impact must be integrated

with management systems

Creates greater lasting social impact than traditional donation-based corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) programs • The approach applies business principles and draws

on core capabilities

Provides new opportunities for learning andinnovation• Understanding new markets and customer segments

can lead to new commercial opportunities

Improves employee motivation and retention• There is greater enthusiasm and pride among

involved staff, potential recruits, and all of the company’s stakeholders

Offers the potential for a positive impact on thebrand• Gains can be achieved if the business is carefully

managed and tangible results are achieved

Business BenefitsSocial Benefits

Source: BCG analysis.

Exhibit 3 | A Social Business Approach Offers a Range of Social and Business Benefits


employment opportunities for farmers in rural Bangladesh. Furthermore, it recruited new employees as field supervisors and built a sorting factory. (For profiles of these social businesses, see the Appendix).

These solutions are designed to provide long-lasting, self-perpetuating benefits. Unlike tra-ditional charitable organizations, which spend donated funds every year, a successful social business has self-sustainable opera-tions because it is set up to recoup every dol-lar it invests. Social businesses also empower populations in need, transforming them from beneficiaries of charitable aid to independent consumers who have a choice and a stake in their own futures. In addition, by tracking sales figures and working with a business mindset, social businesses can achieve great-er accountability and efficiency—further in-creasing the social return of every dollar in-vested.

The most important business benefit of social businesses is the potential for learning and innovation.

Business BenefitsUnlike traditional, donation-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, social businesses allow companies to directly use their skills, expertise, and business network to address a particular social problem. In this way, social business activities can be aligned with the core commercial business. If designed and managed effectively, this alignment not only generates lasting social impact but also can lead to tangible business benefits.

According to the corporations we surveyed, the most important business benefit that so-cial businesses can provide is the potential for learning and innovation. All along the val-ue chain, companies often find that the new products, operating models, marketing strate-gies, and distribution approaches aimed at reaching those most in need have a broader commercial application and can be a source

of competitive advantage for the core busi-ness. For instance, Grameen Danone Foods set a goal of improving the health of children in Bangladesh by selling nutritious, afford-able yogurt to local families. To maximize ef-ficiency and create local employment oppor-tunities, grameen danone foods built the smallest plant that was technically possible—its capacity is below 4 percent of the typical capacity at a Danone factory in Europe. This production approach sharply reduces capital expenses and provides an innovative blue-print for small-scale production that Danone can leverage in other emerging markets. (For more details, see the sidebar “An Interview with Jochen Ebert on Grameen Danone Foods.”)

When companies enter a new region, social businesses can also provide valuable insights into the legal, regulatory, and political envi-ronments. BASF Grameen’s primary social objective is to protect populations against insect-borne diseases, but the business also provides an opportunity to learn more about the Bangladeshi market and consumers— lessons that may eventually help BASF ex-plore new business opportunities.

Social businesses can also provide less tangi-ble but equally important employee benefits. Giving employees an opportunity to become involved in a social business can give them a sense of purpose and new personal- and pro-fessional-development opportunities. By pro-viding experiences that enrich the lives of their employees, companies can strengthen employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention. These types of experiences are es-pecially valued by today’s “Millennial” gener-ation (those born between 1980 and 2000). For members of this generation, experiencing a sense of purpose is an integral part of their lives and plays an integral role in their career choices. (For more about the survey, see The Millennial Consumer: Debunking Stereotypes, BCG Focus, April 2012.)

Finally, achieving true social impact can also enhance a company’s reputation and brand by helping to build a network and goodwill with important stakeholders. Public cam-paigns to encourage corporate recognition of social issues demonstrate the growing power


Jochen Ebert is the managing director of Danone India. Previously, he managed the launch of Grameen Danone Foods in Bangla-desh, a social business that sells fortified yogurt at affordable prices. The yogurt is specifically formulated to address child malnutrition among the poor in rural parts of the country. BCG spoke with him about the business benefits that a social business can deliver.

What impact did Grameen danone Foods in Bangladesh have on Danone’s core business? Grameen Danone Foods allowed us to experiment with new approaches and processes. A big corporation becomes more and more top-down in the way it is man-aged. Our social business in Bangladesh was really created bottom-up. Instead of being part of a big hierarchy, we were a small group of people making decisions. This had a significant impact on how we ran the business.

For example, it was absolutely unthinkable for Danone to have a factory that generated fewer than 20,000 tons of yogurt per year. Yet our factory in Bangladesh has only a 2,000-ton capacity and far lower capital expenses. Here, we are capable of manag-ing small, and we try to keep costs as low as we can. Since this is a small startup and we cannot afford high overhead, we’ve had to put very junior people into senior manage-ment positions. We have had time to experi-ment, because the absolute losses that we create are not so significant. This is revolu-tionary thinking for a company like Danone.

Also, there have been fantastic new learnings in terms of going to market, understanding and reaching consumers, and creating products that our customers want. The direct-delivery systems we created in Bangladesh are smaller and more effective than what we have in many other countries. And we’ll be launching some products in France that were strongly inspired by our products in Bangladesh.

Our social business is a lever that people still don’t fully understand because the traditional communication and learning flows are from West to East. People in the West aren’t very open to hearing, “Here’s how we do it in Bangladesh.” But it’s an extremely powerful tool, especially if more and more people in the company have these kinds of experiences. We underexploit it massively, but we’ve learned a lot from it.

You mentioned that danone will be launching some products in France that were inspired by the Bangladesh experience. Can you tell us more? We made some innovations in the product formulation. Milk is very expensive in Bangladesh, but other ingredients can provide the needed nutrition profile at a lower cost. These ideas can be applied in developed countries as well.

Another idea with the potential to travel elsewhere is how we go to market—and the need to explore different distribution channels. In developed countries, such as Germany and France, we sell 80 percent of our products through supermarkets. But in India, for example, we sell via carts. I don’t know if this approach is completely applicable in other areas, but the very act of breaking down mental barriers can be hugely inspirational for big companies.

In Europe, where there are many steps between the manufacturer and the con-sumer, there may be opportunities to sell products directly—and not necessarily via carts going through Paris. We have a big Danone building in Spain where we sell products directly to consumers. It wasn’t directly inspired by Bangladesh, but this type of thinking can lead to innovation.

Have you gained any other insights from your Bangladesh experience? One key learning is in the area of business planning. Companies are spending an increasing amount of time planning and

an interview with JoChen ebert on grameen Danone fooDs


that external stakeholders can have on busi-ness success. Building long-term relationships across all of society—including public deci-sion makers, opinion leaders, and influenc-ers—through an integrated stakeholder-man-agement approach is critical for building support for a company’s interests and opera-tions.

Notes1. For more about the definition of social business and the seven principles outlined by Professor Yunus, see the Yunus Centre website.

then translating those plans into Power-Point charts. In Bangladesh and India, we learned that it doesn’t really help to plan more and more and more—your plan is going to be wrong.

This experience radically changed how I look at the process. I no longer see it as first the planning, then the action. Now it’s first the action, then the planning. It’s really the ability to act something out, to experiment with something that may be a little vague or entrepreneurial. Since we can’t manage uncertainty, it’s better to manage small, modular experiments and see their impact on the business—instead of taking the traditional approach of adding

one business plan to the next, knowing that they’ll never happen but pretending they will.

To generalize, if a company wants to take the risk of building businesses in emerging countries, then it also has to take the risk of nonplanning, taking action, and then planning. If it doesn’t work, you cut your losses and exit. And if it works, you adjust it step by step. This is a permanent, interac-tive process of correction. It is very, very unlikely that you’ll get it right the first time. I have never seen that, because these countries are fundamentally different than where you’re used to operating.

an interview with JoChen ebert on grameen Danone fooDs(continued)


“Social business is always about finding the right balance, the best solution between the con-tradicting requirements of social and business all the time.”

– emmanuel Marchant, director of danone.communities Fund

Books and articles on how to start and manage a successful company are widely

available—and likely found in the private libraries of most of the world’s top managers. Best practices for developing a successful social business, however, are not as well known. While social businesses can apply many of the same business principles to achieve financial sustainability, guidance on how to achieve and maximize social impact is less straightforward.

Drawing on the experiences of the Grameen companies and the insights of their managing directors in the field, we’ve identified a set of key success factors required for social business success. These factors are clustered across the five critical steps for developing a social business: choosing the right focus area, designing a successful business model, continuously learning and adapting, building efficient and sustainable operations, and managing for impact.

In the following sections, we look at these steps more closely, along with the key lessons

associated with them. (For an overview of the steps, see Exhibit 4.)

choosing the right focus area any successful business identifies and meets a specific customer need. A social business is no different, except that it focuses its efforts on addressing an unmet social need or un-solved social problem.

Choosing which need to focus on requires considering three factors simultaneously:

• The core strengths, capabilities, and business agenda of the company that wants to engage in a social business

• The problems and needs that are the most pressing and underserved in a targeted geography

• The landscape of stakeholders, legal issues, and the activities of other players.

Be clear about your core capabilities and potential business interests. When identifying a social problem to address, companies should start from a baseline of their core capabilities, goals, and learning agenda.

By targeting a specific need that their core ca-pabilities can address, social businesses gain

deVeloPing a SucceSSful

Social BuSineSS


a clear sense of purpose and can generate real impact. Danone, for instance, drew on its own expertise in nutrition when it chose to address the problem of poor nutrition among children from the lowest-income families in Bangladesh. Similarly, Veolia Water built upon its capabilities in providing safe water solutions by addressing the issue of arsenic-contaminated drinking water in Bangladesh.

understanding the goals and learning agenda of the organization also helps orient the com-pany to particular problems while maximiz-ing the potential business benefits. Intel, for example, lists as its central mission: to “create and extend computing technology to connect and enrich the lives of every person on earth.” While Intel’s commercial business already achieves this goal very successfully for many populations around the globe, grameen Intel Social Business in Bangladesh provides an excellent opportunity for the company to learn more about how to reach even the rural poor and improve their lives with technological solutions.

Don’t just treat symptoms—fully understand the problems and their root causes. when identifying a focus area, social busi-nesses need to develop a sound understand-ing of the root cause or causes of the prob-lems they’re considering addressing. While this might take significant time and effort, getting at the root cause is critical, since hav-ing a sustainable impact hinges on addressing a problem’s source—not just its symptoms.

Addressing the root causes was important for Grameen Veolia Water, a joint venture with Veolia Water, a leading provider of water treatment services. Given its core capabilities, Veolia Water identified the issue of providing safe drinking water to the people in rural Bangladesh as a potential focus area. In Bangladesh, from 37 million to 77 million people—a significant portion of the country’s 147 million inhabitants—are at risk of arsenic contamination.1 In some areas, up to 80 percent of tube wells were contaminated. To truly understand the complex web of underlying issues, the company invested a

Choosingthe right

focus area

Designing asuccessfulbusiness

model

Buildingefficient andsustainableoperations

Managingfor impact

LessonsSteps

Continuouslylearning and

adapting

The poor are demanding too: A clearly differentiated offering tailored to local needs is important.Minimize the clash between affordability and sustainability: Consider differentiated pricing.Rethink how to reach customers: Employ innovative distribution methods.

Go beyond traditional marketing: Customer education is oen needed too.

It takes time to get it right: Adapt and iterate to make the business model work.

Don't wait too long to test the concept in the market.

Measure and manage social impact as rigorously as financial results.To reach more beneficiaries and boost impact, scale up what works.

Be clear about your core capabilities and potential business interests.Don’t just treat symptoms—fully understand the problems and their root causes.Understand the landscape of stakeholders, legal issues, and activities of other players.

Partnerships can be helpful—but only if structured effectively.

The right people are integral to success: An explicit people strategy is needed from day one.Extreme cost pressures are an ongoing challenge—but can also be an impetus for innovation.

Source: BCG analysis.

Exhibit 4 | A Snapshot of the Key Lessons for Succeeding in Social Business


significant amount of money and effort, even commissioning an in-depth study of the cultural and religious aspects of the problem.

As it turned out, there were several root causes. Despite growing awareness among vil-lagers of the presence of arsenic-contaminat-ed water, they continued to drink it. A 2010 UNICEF report noted that 80 percent of the local people knew arsenic could be a prob-lem in tube-well water, and even though con-taminated wells had been painted red to in-crease awareness, many villagers still used the wells either because there were no other alternatives or because of convenience and cost considerations.

Also, many people mistakenly believed that arsenic-contaminated water would have a dark color or fishy smell, when in fact it can’t be identified by sight or taste. Finally, be-cause arsenic-related health problems appear only in the future, the villagers didn’t connect such problems to the water they had drunk in the past.2

The social sector is often very complex and fragmented.

By understanding these underlying causes, Veolia Water realized that an effective solu-tion would require addressing not only the availability of safe drinking water but also the local perception and use of water. While Veolia Water has undisputedly strong exper-tise in designing the right technical solution, the company realized that solving behavioral issues would require additional skills and a focus on educating the local people. (See the section “Go beyond traditional marketing: Customer education is often needed too.”)

Understand the landscape of stake-holders, legal issues, and activities of other players. Understanding the landscape of players is im-portant in any business activity. But it is even more important when aiming to address a so-cial problem, as the social sector is often very complex and fragmented. Fully understand-ing the regulatory environment as well as the

activities and plans of the many players that are active in a given social area is key to de-ciding whether a new engagement can truly deliver impact.

For instance, BASF originally planned to ad-dress the problem of malnutrition in Bangla-desh with a multinutrient product. But its de-tailed review of the complex landscape directed it to another option.

Although malnutrition is a very severe prob-lem in the country, as 43 percent of children under age 5 (that is, more than 8 million children) suffer from chronic malnutrition, the landscape of organizations working to address malnutrition is very complex and fragmented.3 Six government ministries deal with the issue, with support from at least five un agencies and more than 30 larg-er NGOs and various coordination bodies. In addition, there is a broad set of regulatory processes connected to the sales or distribu-tion of micronutrient supplements in the country.

After investigating this complicated network of stakeholders in detail, BASF Grameen rec-ognized that there were already plans for a similar product and that regulatory hurdles would be too high to allow for a quick market entry. Ultimately, BASF decided to focus on a different problem area, addressing insect-borne diseases through insecticide-treated bed nets—a field that aligned well with the companies’ core competencies.

designing a Successful Business ModelAn effective business model—with a clear value proposition—is as important to a social business as it is to a commercial business. the challenges that the social business model must tackle, however, are exceptionally diffi-cult, particularly in the context of a develop-ing country.

“Social businesses—as any other businesses—need a clearly differentiated product with a unique selling proposition.”

– Kazi Huque, CEO of Grameen Intel Social Business


BCG’s survey of managing directors at social businesses in Bangladesh revealed that chief among these challenges is gaining a deep un-derstanding of the specific needs of the target population in order to design a clearly differ-entiated solution that meets those needs. Three other challenges were consistently mentioned: achieving a price point that the targeted population can actually afford, phys-ically reaching those most in need, and gener-ating sufficient demand for the new offering. An effective business model must explicitly address these four challenges.

The poor are demanding too: A clear-ly differentiated offering tailored to local needs is important. Operating a social business that sells prod-ucts to the poorest populations does not mean cutting corners on quality. Many finan-cial demands compete for the limited budget held by the targeted population, which earns average daily incomes of only $1 or $2 per day. Poor customers, therefore, put exception-al emphasis on getting value for their money. This makes it critical to truly understand their needs and to address those needs with a tailored and clearly differentiated offering.

poor customers put excep-tional emphasis on getting value for their money.

Solutions to social problems don’t always re-quire developing entirely new goods or ser-vices. Existing products in other markets or business ideas from social entrepreneurs around the world may provide potential start-ing points. Danone and BASF, for example, leveraged existing products as starting points for their solutions in Bangladesh. When no appropriate product exists in the current business portfolio, it is well worth the effort to systematically assess the local and global landscape for existing solutions to similar problems and the lessons that can be drawn from their application.

To achieve real impact, however, a social business must tailor its product or service to

the needs, culture, and local tastes of the tar-geted population. Standard solutions from de-veloped markets rarely work. Market research in the field and consultation with local gov-ernments, NGOs, or partner organizations can help generate the insights needed from the local market to ensure a good fit between the solution and the specific local needs, as well as legal compliance, and a truly differen-tiated offering.

for instance, BaSf tailored the insecticide-in-fused mosquito nets it sold in other markets to meet the needs of the Bangladeshi custom-er. Instead of sizing the nets to cover a single bed, the company adapted the nets to cover an entire sleeping family. Grameen Danone foods innovated its yogurt formula by adding essential micronutrients needed to address local deficiencies. But to make the product appealing to local tastes, the company recog-nized that it needed to also thicken and sweeten its yogurt.

Minimize the clash between afford-ability and sustainability: Consider differentiated pricing. one of the biggest challenges for social busi-nesses is to sell products at affordable prices to the world’s neediest—often the poorest of the poor—while generating enough revenue to be financially self-sustaining. This can be a major hurdle for social businesses to over-come. Veolia Water, for example, had to con-vince people to pay for clean, uncontaminat-ed water when river water, although less safe, was free. To overcome this hurdle, social busi-nesses must achieve an affordable price point, while demonstrating the value of their offering.

Social businesses have three pricing options. One is to charge the lowest possible price to reach the people most in need. That’s an ap-proach taken, for example, by Grameen Shak-ti. Using low-cost, manual production process-es to build its solar panels, the company is able to achieve prices even lower than those of competing Chinese imports. However, there are limits to the extent social business-es can compete on price and still maintain adequate working conditions and minimum quality standards. Multinationals that let their standards slip run the risk of tarnishing


their brands and reputations. For these rea-sons, competing on price against local compa-nies that have fewer constraints is an ongoing struggle for social businesses.

When low-price leadership isn’t an option, so-cial businesses can command higher prices only if their offerings are clearly differentiat-ed. The poor—even more so than traditional consumers who are better off financially—thoroughly compare product value and price when making buying decisions. The second option, a moderate premium price, is possible if the additional value is very clear. For in-stance, BASF Grameen’s premium mosquito nets, which are infused with particularly ef-fective repellent, sell for 30 percent more than standard nets—but are still sought after even by customers in rural areas.

Even when products are too expensive for low-income consumers, a “moderate premi-um” strategy can work if it is combined with financing options. For example, Grameen caledonian college of nursing charges young women €3,700 for their nursing training; to help make the tuition affordable, it can be re-paid after graduation with a 5 percent service charge through the Grameen Bank. Grameen Shakti also offers a variety of financing op-tions for purchases of its solar home system, with monthly installments equal to or lower than the monthly price of the kerosene alter-native.

The third option is to price products differ-ently for different customer segments, charg-ing prices based on a customer’s ability to pay. For instance, Danone Grameen Foods charges less for its yogurt in rural areas than in the few modern trade stores in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, where consumers can afford higher prices. Grameen Veolia Water sells its safe drinking water to rural custom-ers via village tap points while more affluent customers in Dhaka are served with 20 liter jars sold at a higher price per liter. Grameen GC Eye Care Hospital charges more affluent patients full price for surgery and other treat-ments, which allows the company to treat the poorest customers at a far lower price. In each of these businesses, higher-income con-sumers subsidize the lower-income segments of the population.

Strategic, differentiated pricing such as this can make products more affordable to the target population while ensuring that overall operations at least break even and are thus sustainable. Given the very limited purchas-ing power of those most in need, it is often the only way to effectively reach the poorest of the poor.

Differentiated pricing is often the only way to reach the poorest of the poor.

A major challenge, however, is to properly identify different customer segments and en-sure that the benefits of lower costs accrue only to the very poor. Some social businesses have found innovative ways to address this challenge. Grameen GC Eye Care Hospital, for example, has an outreach system that involves visiting potential patients in their villages, un-derstanding their income levels, and verifying this information in separate meetings with the village elders.

Rethink how to reach customers: Em-ploy innovative distribution methods. The poorest people often lack access to basic products and services because they live in ru-ral areas unreachable through established distribution networks. Poor, muddy roads and flooding can further complicate logistics, making transportation costly and time con-suming. To succeed, social businesses often must rethink how they physically reach their target customers, supplementing traditional commercial channels with innovative meth-ods of distribution.

for instance, grameen distribution originally relied on traditional channels such as the local distribution channels and local retail stores. But leaders at the company quickly re-alized that the more rural areas—at the end of the “last mile” of distribution—lacked ac-cess to essential products. By recruiting and training women within local communities—the so-called Grameen ladies who sell prod-ucts door to door—Grameen was able to reach its target customers and provide valu-


able employment opportunities to women in rural Bangladesh. Today, Grameen Distribu-tion employs roughly 9,000 women, men, and youth to sell products in Bangladeshi villages; they reach 9 million of the most remote households.

New marketing methods include door-to-door out-reach and advocacy by early adopters.

Go beyond traditional marketing: Customer education is often needed too. For many reasons, getting target populations to buy and properly use a new social product is difficult. Products offered by social busi-nesses may address needs that consumers aren’t aware that they have. A lack of educa-tion may keep people from understanding the value that the social business is offering. Finally, deeply entrenched behaviors and cul-tural or religious norms are often hard to change and require specific education to en-sure proper usage of the product.

to create demand for its offering, a social business must develop marketing that effec-tively reaches and communicates a clear val-ue proposition to the population in need. This is an area where the capabilities of the business and social sectors need to merge. While the business sector can provide the needed marketing expertise, this must be adapted to the social sector’s knowledge of the drivers behind customer behaviors in the targeted populations.

Many of the Grameen social businesses draw on the knowledge of local people to guide their marketing efforts. For example, the grameen ladies are integral to the sale and marketing of many social businesses because they have firsthand knowledge of their neigh-bors’ needs. By explaining product benefits in a way that’s understandable to the target population and identifying opportunities for new products, the Grameen ladies offer a crit-ical avenue for creating demand.

even once demand is generated, customers often need to be educated on the proper us-age of the offering. Several of the Grameen social businesses, such as grameen danone Foods and Grameen Veolia Water, offer prod-ucts that require regular usage to be effective. other offerings, such as the solar home sys-tems of Grameen Shakti, require proper us-age to maximize the effectiveness and work-ing life of the product. To successfully change behavior, social businesses must go beyond traditional marketing and try new methods and channels such as educating consumers through door-to-door outreach and through advocacy by early adopters.

Grameen Danone Foods, for example, edu-cates customers through small-scale events featuring a female student lecturing on the product’s nutritional benefits. Grameen Veo-lia Water uses local leaders to help overcome long-held beliefs and behaviors that are ob-stacles to behavior change. These efforts of-ten require time, patience, and persistence.

continuously learning and adaptingOne thing we consistently hear from people who have been involved with social business-es is that getting the business model right is an iterative learning process that involves time and effort, trial and error.

It takes time to get it right: Adapt and iterate to make the business mod-el work. Be prepared for this step to take much longer than one might initially expect based on ex-periences with traditional business ventures. Throughout the development process, the business model must be continuously moni-tored and adapted to ensure that it is eco-nomically feasible and delivers real social im-pact. This learn-and-adapt cycle can be approached in one of two ways:

• Rapid Market Entry. This “learn by doing” approach involves entering a market quickly with a small-scale prototype and gathering direct feedback—an approach often used by entrepreneurs and startups that want to gain a first-mover advantage and try out new ideas in the marketplace


quickly. Grameen Distribution went this route, adapting its model based on feedback from the Grameen ladies and their customers on products, pricing, and the door-to-door sales method. After achiev-ing success on a small scale, the business was able to break even and rapidly expand its operations in less than two years.

• Thorough Advance Planning. By doing more thorough planning and testing in advance, a business can minimize its risk of failure and protect its investment and corporate brand. After up-front planning, pilot programs may be used to prove an offering’s potential for social impact and financial sustainability before scaling it up for entry in the broader market. This approach is more typical of corporations that set up a social business. Grameen Intel Social Business thoroughly devel-oped its products and business model before starting pilot tests. Currently, shumātā—a software that monitors high-risk pregnancies—is being tested with about 1,300 women in three villages, and eAgro—an agriculture productivity tool—is helping about 900 farmers increase their crop yields.

Don’t wait too long to test the concept in the market.While both rapid market entry and thorough advance planning can work, the best path for-ward for most multinationals may be a hy-brid of the two approaches. Some up-front planning, market research, and refinement of the business model can minimize the risk of failure. But waiting too long poses its own risk because unless a concept is tested in the market, there’s no way to know if it will actu-ally succeed. Unexpected challenges invari-ably arise, and things often turn out very dif-ferently than what was expected.

“We learned that it doesn’t really help you to plan more and more and more—your plan is going to be wrong.”

– Jochen Ebert, managing director of danone India

Still, early market entry may seem too risky to some corporations. For these, starting a so-

cial business under a different name can be another option to protect their brand while getting real market experience quickly.

Building efficient and Sustain-able operations Social businesses aim to translate initial in-vestments into self-perpetuating impact well into the future, but such long-run benefits can only be achieved if efficient, sustainable operations are put in place. To remain viable over the long term and increase the social im-pact they deliver, social businesses must structure operations and partnerships effec-tively, hire and retain the right talent, and de-sign operations to be as lean and efficient as possible. Although these objectives are the same as in any business, social businesses face particular challenges in addressing them effectively.

partnering with a local organization can provide valuable access to customer insights.

Partnerships can be helpful—but only if structured effectively.Many corporations find that partnering with a local company or social sector organization can provide valuable access to knowledge of markets and customer needs; support for lo-cal production, distribution, and administra-tion; and an understanding of the specific challenges in the social sector. Grameen’s joint venture partners often cite the clear benefits gained from Grameen’s deep knowl-edge of Bangladeshi market dynamics, both in rural areas as well as in the country as a whole.

“Social business creates a common platform for the public sector, the private sector, and NGOs to work together on the resolution of social prob-lems…This demilitarized zone allows collabora-tion modes, creativity, and a cocreation of solu-tions which no other modality allows.”

– emmanuel faber, co-coo and vice chairman, Danone Group4


Corporations that decide to partner with a lo-cal social-sector organization often enter new territory. Ways of working in the social sector often differ from those in the business world. While these new interactions can be chal-lenging for both sides, they often turn out to be very fruitful. Grameen’s focus on simple solutions, for example, required that Intel work at a lower level of complexity than a technology business typically would. Gra- meen’s approach encouraged Intel to think of new ways to make it easier for Bangladesh’s rural population to understand and use prod-ucts such as mrittikā, software for analyzing soil nutrition and recommending fertilizer.

social businesses need employees and managers who possess both social and business skills.

Partnerships can also be a source of con-flicts—especially when the visions or expec-tations for the business are not aligned. Deci-sions about whether to set up a partnership with a local organization and, if so, which partner to choose must be considered careful-ly. To increase the odds of a successful part-nership, agreements should be detailed up front to clarify key elements of the relation-ship. Critical to success are aligning expecta-tions, creating a common vision at the outset, setting boundaries around operational areas that the company prefers to avoid, and clear-ly defining roles and responsibilities. Corpo-rate partners engaging in a social business must also remain alert to any potential con-flicts of interest with their commercial opera-tions.

To encourage a long-term, sustainable partner-ship and to maximize mutual benefits, strong links between the parties must be integrated into all levels of the new social business. This integration should go well beyond the corpo-rate cSr function and encourage engagement within the business units and top leadership. At Intel, for example, the joint venture is man-aged out of the company’s World Ahead Pro-gram, which aims to make technology accessi-

ble for people around the world through business endeavors.

Similarly, responsibility for the social business-es of BASF and Veolia Water lies within the respective business units and is closely coordi-nated with the regional and local commercial business structures. The top-level decision makers of all partners typically are represent-ed on the board of the social business to en-sure that their interests are considered when making strategic decisions. Equally strong links should be established among executives to encourage crossover benefits in both direc-tions. Activities such as regular management calls and staff-rotation programs can help en-courage ongoing cooperation and engagement.

The right people are integral to suc-cess: An explicit people strategy is needed from day one. As with all businesses, a high-performance workforce is critical, but social businesses face particular challenges in recruiting and retention. Social businesses need employees and managers who possess both social and business skills, and finding the right mix of capabilities isn’t easy—especially in areas where educated, experienced employees are in short supply. This issue of scarce resources requires social businesses to start building local capabilities immediately to prepare for long-term, sustainable operations. Gra- meen danone foods, for instance, brought in a team from Danone India to provide critical management skills on a temporary basis while local skills were developed in parallel.

Although it might sound surprising, social businesses in developing countries can face high rates of staff attrition. Despite their wor-thy and ambitious goals, social businesses of-ten compete with large, for-profit corpora-tions that can offer better compensation packages. As a result, some employees see their work as a temporary commitment, and they move on to higher-paying jobs once they’ve gained a certain degree of training or experience. While this can be a challenge for the social business, it is also a source of addi-tional social impact. The social business acts as a stepping stone, providing training to—and helping develop critical skills among—


employees who can then move on and spread their talent in other settings.

Still, high attrition is often a reality that must be anticipated and managed because it can threaten the social impact and financial sta-bility of a social business. For instance, Grameen Shakti’s field staff has an annual at-trition rate of approximately 25 percent. Im-portant measures for managing high turnover include planning for attrition through recruit-ing, training new hires efficiently, and using incentives and clear career paths to encour-age longer tenure.

success means delivering real social impact and doing so self-sustainably.

Extreme cost pressures are an ongoing challenge—but can also be an impetus for innovation. The cost pressures that social businesses face are exceptionally severe, given the low in-comes of their targeted populations and the need to be financially self-sufficient in the face of low profit margins. Moreover, multina-tionals that set up social businesses must deal with wholly new customer segments, many of which are not accessible through tra-ditional marketing and distribution channels. Success requires low-cost operations and in-novative solutions, with a goal of doing more with less.

By applying the typical efficiency levers of traditional companies along with a mindset of risk taking and innovation, social business-es can optimize resources and maximize im-pact. Operations at Grameen Danone Foods are a prime example.

The yogurt business in Bangladesh required far less output than the typical Danone plant and low-cost operations to achieve affordable prices for the rural poor. By designing a new factory from the bottom up, Grameen Danone Foods developed a small-scale facto-ry that produces just 2,000 tons of yogurt and uses state-of-the-art technology, local sourc-

ing, and local labor to keep costs low and pro-vide added employment benefits to the local population. Other improvements designed to minimize costs include increasing the plant’s capacity utilization and improving product and packaging design.5 danone can leverage many of these innovations in other markets to make its yogurt affordable to lower-income customers.

Managing for impactthe moment of truth for a social business is finding out whether success has been achieved—and can be sustained and in-creased. Success means two things: delivering real social impact and doing so self-sustain-ably, without the financial support of a corpo-rate partner or outside donations. Both of these outcomes can and should be measured and managed. While most companies are used to managing financial returns, manag-ing social impact is often a new undertaking.

Measure and manage social impact as rigorously as financial results. Although social-impact outcomes may seem intangible or difficult to evaluate, clear met-rics can help quantify the impact of a social business on the target population. At a mini-mum, social impact should be measured along two dimensions: the impact on each beneficiary and the number of targeted ben-eficiaries reached.

To quantify the impact per beneficiary, key performance indicators must be tailored both to the social problem addressed by the busi-ness and to the social benefits expected. For example, a social business that provides green energy, such as Grameen Shakti, should measure the environmental and economical impact of its products. An initial analysis comparing Grameen Shakti’s solar home sys-tems to the kerosene alternative, for instance, suggests that the average household with a home system reduces its carbon dioxide lev-els by roughly 0.25 tons per year and gener-ates net annual savings of €58.

While the impact per beneficiary is impor-tant to understand, it is also critical to mea-sure the scale of impact. Here, social busi-nesses must distinguish between the total


number of individuals or households reached (full scale of the business) and the total num-ber of the targeted disadvantaged beneficia-ries reached (degree of social impact).

A rough assessment of the impact of Grameen Shakti’s solar home systems, for ex-ample, reveals a total reach of about 1.2 mil-lion households, about 314,000 of which are estimated to be in the targeted poor segment. (See Exhibit 5.) It is important to closely monitor this metric, as Grameen Shakti’s ability to provide affordable green energy and cost savings to the most disadvantaged populations is a key element setting it apart from traditional commercial energy businesses.

These metrics, along with financial metrics, must be integrated into the management sys-tem of a social business. In this way, social businesses can learn to manage for social im-pact just as they do for financial returns: through end-to-end management processes that plan, measure, report, and improve per-formance.

To reach more beneficiaries and boost impact, scale up what works. Ultimately, increasing social impact requires scaling up the social business to maximize the number of beneficiaries reached.

“Big companies can reach people in many countries, deliver products to remote areas, learn in one place, and take knowledge to all other countries.”

– John E. Davies, general manager, Intel world ahead program

there are three routes to increase scale:

• Local scale-up aims to reach a broader customer base in a given country. For instance, Grameen Shakti plans to expand from more than 1 million solar home systems sold in 2012 to a cumulative installation base of more than 2 million units by 2015.

• Portfolio extension enhances the portfolio of a social business by adding new

Example: Grameen Shakti—Solar Home Systems

~315,000 tons of CO saved annually through solar home systems

~€18.2 million in energy cost savings annually among the most disadvantaged households

Environmentalannual impact per household

Social impact

Number of targeted beneficiaries

Social impact per beneficiary

Economicannual impact per household

CO savings1

~0.25 tons of CO

Kerosenesavings2

~€72 ~€14

System cost3

Net savings~€58

×

1,257,848 ~25% ~314,000

% of “absolutely underprivileged”

households4

# of “absolutely underprivileged”

households reached

# of householdsreached

× =

–

Source: Grameen Shakti; BCG analysis.1Based on Grameen Shakti estimate.2Based on Grameen Shakti estimates: 108 liters of kerosene saved annually x €0.67 per liter.3Based on Grameen Shakti estimates for a 50 watt-peak solar home system: €290 investment/20 years usage.4Based on Grameen Shakti estimates using high-level assumptions. Absolutely underprivileged households are defined here as the “bottom of the economic pyramid”—those with incomes below US$2.50 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity).

Exhibit 5 | Social Impact Metrics Should Be Tracked


products or services. For instance, Grameen Distribution has expanded its portfolio with new social products, such as BASF Grameen mosquito nets.

• International expansion involves transfer-ring a social business to another region or country. While none of the businesses highlighted in this report have yet taken this step, it is certainly an option for those that have reached significant national scale.

From a scale standpoint, Grameen Shakti has been the most advanced of the grameen so-cial businesses to date. The company was founded in 1996 to improve the supply of elec-tricity in Bangladesh and to promote a healthi-er living environment in the country. When Grameen Shakti was formed, 70 percent of households in Bangladesh lacked electricity, and indoor air pollution was high because many families used kerosene stoves, which pose a fire risk as well. The company began by selling solar home systems to address the need for electricity.

Besides offering a range of affordable pay-ment plans, Grameen Shaki’s “micro-utility” option allows the owners of the systems to sell power to their poorer neighbors, who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Through on-

going iteration and adaptation, the company has proved its ability to achieve social benefits and create a financially sustainable business.6

Over time, Grameen Shakti has added new customers and expanded its product line to include biogas and improved cooking stoves—installing more than 700,000 stoves to date—in addition to solar home systems. Today, it is a thriving business with nearly €72 million in revenues and 12,000 workers.

Notes1. Margaret R. Karagas, “Arsenic-Related Mortality in Bangladesh,” The Lancet, July 24, 2010; 376(9737): 213–214. 2. Thérèse Blanchet, “Grameen Veolia Water: Assessment of a Social Business Project with an Anthropologist Perspective,” 2011. 3. The World Bank, “Nutrition at a Glance: Bangladesh.”4. Yunus Social Business, “Investing for Social Benefit: Yunus Social Business Incubator Funds,” 2013. 5. Lee, Katharine and V. Kasturi Rangan. “Grameen Danone Foods Ltd., a Social Business,” Harvard Business School, 2010.6. Nancy Wimmer, Green Energy for a Billon Poor. Munich: MCRE Verlag, 2012.


looking forward

Although social businesses and similar hybrid models that combine

social impact and business principles are still an emerging concept, they clearly have tremendous potential. In the future, it is conceivable that social businesses will become an increasingly strong sector in the global economy as their benefits and best practices become better known. We expect that social businesses will complement organizations in the public, private, and dona-tion-based social sectors.

Several trends underpin the high potential for growth among social businesses and similar hybrid models. First, there is a growing interest among nonprofit organizations to increase the sustainability and efficiency of their operations—largely because donors and society are increasingly demanding it. Many nonprofits already have begun exploring new ways of migrating toward more sustainable business models and generating revenues through their operations. According to a recent survey, 40 percent of nonprofits in the U.S. and Canada with budgets of $250,000 or less—and 60 percent of those with budgets above $5 million—used a hybrid, socially oriented business model for a portion of their operations. Moreover, 87 percent of the organizations with a hybrid model expect to launch another one within the next three years.1

Second, a wealth of new ideas and prototypes of social business models are available. Many social entrepreneurs are developing and prov-ing new ideas that are ready to be financed and scaled up either independently or in partnership with nonprofits or corporations. A recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study estimates that roughly 2.8 percent of the working population in the U.S. is involved in hybrid social enterprises.2 The European Union estimates that 25 percent of new ven-tures in Europe can be considered social en-terprises. Social businesses command even higher percentages—as high as 33 percent—of new ventures in France, Finland, and Belgium.3

Feeding into this growth of new business models is the increasing academic attention that the topic is attracting. Journals on social business and social entrepreneurship are spreading, and many of the leading business schools—such as Harvard, Stanford, HEC Par-is, and INSEAD—have established chairs or programs dedicated to the topic.

The regulatory environment and capital mar-kets are also becoming more amenable to the development of social businesses. Govern-ments are beginning to create legal structures designed to support companies with a social mission. For instance, the European Commis-sion’s Social Business Initiative aims to pro-vide a favorable environment for social busi-


nesses by improving access to funding and reducing regulatory and administrative re-quirements. Several development agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International De-velopment (USAID) and African Develop-ment Bank (AfDB), have also committed to promoting and developing social businesses.4

Finally, more funding and support mecha-nisms—probably the most important drivers of growth—are emerging to encourage the in-cubation and growth of social businesses and other similar ventures. For instance, impact investment funds—defined as “investments intended to create positive impact beyond fi-nancial returns”—have become a significant funding source for social entrepreneurs and social businesses around the world. Organiza-tions have also been created to develop the social investment market. For instance, U.K.’s Big Society Capital has budgeted £600 million to invest in social intermediaries, which can in turn provide support to social sector organizations. Innovative social-investment vehicles and structures are also beginning to emerge, such as stock markets specifically fo-cused on social business.

As we have illustrated throughout the report, these developments present an important op-portunity for the corporate sector. Companies increasingly seek to move away from tradi-tional cSr, aiming to better leverage and in-tegrate their socially motivated activities with the core business. Social businesses not only provide a more effective way to create social impact but also offer corporations the oppor-tunity to harness a variety of business bene-

fits, which themselves become increasingly important as a source of competitive advan-tage. Learning and innovation in new mar-kets, particularly in developing economies, are key requirements for future growth. A clear sense of purpose and meaning is in-creasingly important for the current genera-tion of young employees. Finally, in an ever more interconnected world, recognizing the importance of contributing to and engaging with all stakeholders of society will be essen-tial for lasting business success.

The most natural and effective way for com-panies to approach social causes is with a business mindset. Large corporations are par-ticularly well equipped for such endeavors; they possess the unique capabilities and re-sources required both to undertake small “ex-periments” and also to scale up existing ap-proaches. Such engagements benefit their own business interests and the world as a whole.

Notes1. Community Wealth Ventures, “Social Enterprise A Portrait of the Field,” 2010.2. Siri Terjesen, et al. “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Report on Social Entrepreneurship,” 2011. 3. European Commission, “The Social Business Initiative of the European Commission,” 2012. 4. USAID, “USAID and Yunus Social Business Announce Collaboration to Promote Social Business,” July 23, 2013. AfDB, “The AFDB and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus Launch Social Business in Africa,” March. 15, 2013.


This report is based on an analysis of the lessons learned from ten social

businesses that operate in Bangladesh today, each tackling a different social problem affecting people at the bottom of the eco-nomic pyramid. In this appendix, we spotlight each of those businesses, sharing their focus and their accomplishments to date.

Many of them are joint ventures between a Grameen organization and a multinational partner such as Danone, Intel, Veolia, and

BASF. While several of the businesses are still in the learning stage, others—such as Grameen Shakti and Grameen GC Eye Care Hospital—have already achieved social impact, significant scale, and financial self-sufficiency.

aPPendixsoCiaL BusiNess profiLes


Social problem• 56% of the world’s

preschool-aged children are undernourished

• The severe (long-term) effects of malnutrition cause economicunderdevelopment

• PovertyDanone’s objectives• Fight malnutrition among

children– fulfill the mission: “Bring

health through food”• Reduce poverty by

including localcommunities in all stages of the business model

• Learn to work with stakeholders (e.g., NGOs)

• Learn about the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP)

• Create a meaningful workplace for employees

Product• Yogurt fortified with

micro-nutrients• Delivers 30% of a child’s

daily needs in vitamin A, iron, zinc, and iodine

Price• Differentiated among

regions because of logistics costs

• €0.08 for rural areas• €0.10 for urban areasPlace• Production in Bogra1

• Two distribution channels:– Innovative door-to-door

approach in rural Bogra (“Shokti ladies”)

– Small retailers in some regions

Promotion• Consumers are educated on

benefits and proper usage

Two equal partners• 50/50 joint venture• Grameen provides

local and social know-how

• Danone provides product and technical know-how

• danone.communities Fund (social business fund)

• Grameen Credit Agricole (foundation)

Separate legal entity• Guarantees

independence

Founded in February 2007Current status• Sales increased

from 5,000 to 87,000 cups sold per day

• Adaptation ofbusiness strategy

• New nonchilled product launched

Outlook• Business expected

to break even in 2015

• Business aspires to scale up

Financial status 2011• Revenues:

€1 millionSocial impact• More than 300,000

customers • Johns Hopkins

University's first-dra results showed positive impact on physical and cognitive development

• ~1,500 jobs created (and opportunities for income generation)

Impetus Operations ImpactStatus and outlookBusiness model

More than 300,000customers reached

Adaptation of strategyfor scale-up

Fighting malnutrition and reducing poverty

Grameen Danonejoint venture

Selling fortifiedyogurt to children

Sources: Grameen danone Foods; FAO.Note: The “bottom of the economic pyramid” are those “absolutely underprivileged” with incomes below US$2.50 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity).1Yogurt is produced in a microplant 230 kilometers north of dhaka.

Grameen Danone Foods Fights Malnutrition with Fortified Yogurt

Social problem• 37 million to 77 million

people are at risk of arsenic poisoning

• In Goalmari, 83% of the tube wells are contaminated

• Arsenic has severe-to-fatal consequences on health

Veolia’s objectives• Develop know-how to

serve the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP) and test new service approaches (such as economic, sociologic, and anthropologic)

• Contribute to the local public health situation and to the Millennium Development Goals

Product• Delivering drinking

water through tap point network and subsidizing the cost with jar sales in Dhaka

Price• €0.025 for 10 liters of

water in the village1

• €0.80 per jar in DhakaPlace• Goalmari and Padua2

for village distribution• Dhaka city offices for

jarsPromotion• Adapted customer

approach: education on public health in the rural areas

• Customer stewardship in Dhaka

Two partners• 75/25 joint venture• Veolia Water (75%)

provides technical know-how

• Grameen Health Care Services (25%) provides local and social know-how


independenceMore than €600,000 in funding• €600,000 to date for

plant, pipeline network, jars, and jar factory

Founded in March 2008Current status (2013)• Infrastructure serving

7,000 people and 250 direct clients in Dhaka (offices)

• 300,000 liters sold per month

• Plant utilization: 5%Outlook• Develop new means of

distribution (via jars) and new target market (Dhaka) for cross-subsidization

• Develop rural sales• Business projected to

break even in 2015

Financial status 2012• Operating

expenditures: €70,000• Revenues: €40,000Social impact 2013• Customers:

– 40,000 targeted in Goalmari and Padua

– current customers: 7,000

• Public service: all social segments have access to water

• Health: reduced arsenic poisoning

• Employment: 21 employees, 45 water keepers, and 10 jar distributors


Clean water consumedby ~7,000 people

Pilot businessplan adapted

Fight arsenic poisoningand enhance access to

water for all

Grameen VeoliaWater joint venture

Provide drinking waterat low cost for poor

rural areasSources: Grameen Veolia Water; Yunus Centre.Note: The “bottom of the economic pyramid” are those “absolutely underprivileged” with incomes below US$2.50 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity). 1Price is about 100 times less expensive than the price of bottled water.2These villages are 100 kilometers east of dhaka.

Grameen Veolia Water Combats Arsenicosis Poisoning By Providing Clean Drinking Water


Social problem• 11 million people in

Bangladesh are at risk of malaria

• 84,000 cases in 2009• Dengue has also been

a critical problem since 2008

BASF’s objectives• Develop affordable

protection against insect-borne diseases

• Foster implementation of ethical and social aspects into core business

• Learn about the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP)

Product• Long-lasting (2 to 5

years) insecticide-treated nets

• Customized nets suitable for the Bangladesh market

Price• ~€7.3 with foreign

production• ~€6.0 with new local

productionPlace and promotion• All of Bangladesh,

including the malaria regions

Social business joint venture• BASF (99.5%) provides

product and technical know-how

• Grameen Healthcare Trust (0.5%) provides local and social know-how


independenceInitial investment of €200,000• Provided by BASF• Additional supply of

100,000 mosquito nets• Products from

Grameen Fabrics & Fashions

Founded in March 2009Current status• Capacity: 3,000 nets per

machine per day with full capacity; for one shi, production is 1,000

• 75,000 nets sold to date1

• Adaptation to local market (e.g., net size)

Outlook• Objective:

– sell 200,000 mosquito nets through 2015

– 3 machines in the future

– Nets for 3 million people

– 50 employees at Grameen Fabrics & Fashions


expenditures: €198,000• Revenues: €171,000Social impact• Health: protection

against insect-borne diseases for more than 75,000 families


Protection for morethan 75,000 families

Business model adaptedand scaled up

Fighting insect-borne diseases

Grameen BASFjoint venture

Insecticide-treated nets

Sources: BASF Grameen; World Malaria Report 2012, Word Health Organization; Yunus Social Business; World Malaria Report 2009, World Health Organization.Note: The “bottom of the economic pyramid” are those “absolutely underprivileged” with incomes below US$2.50 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity). 1To date, mosquito nets have been imported from Thailand.

BASF Grameen Provides Protection Against Malaria

Social problems• Lack of agricultural

efficiency and unsystematic use of fertilizer

• 12,000 mothers die annually in Bangladesh from pregnancy-related complications

• Limited access to medical care

Intel’s motivation• Mission of Intel’s

World Ahead Program– “connecting people

to a world of opportunity”

• Learn about the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP) for potential entry into the market

Product• Soware for computer

and mobile devices• Soil test and advice for

the type and amount of fertilizer needed

• Screen for high-risk factors in pregnancy

Price (planned)• Grameen Intel

Soware: ~€7.5• End-customer service:

€1.25 per soil test (eAgro)

Place and promotion• Local entrepreneur

uses soware on mobile devices to offer services in the communities

Grameen Intel Social Business • Intel provides

product andtechnical know-how

• Grameenprovides localimplementation knowledge


independenceInitial investment• Intel Capital and

Grameen Trust are shareholders

Founded in May 2009Current status• 3 soware products for

saleOutlook• Projected to break

even in 2018• 2013 goal

– technology adoption– more than 100

third-party service hubs serving a community of more than 20,000 farmers

– more than 1,200 mothers using the pregnancy-care product

– launch of five new products

• Future scale-up inIndia, Bangladesh, and Macedonia

Financial status 2013• Operating expenditures:

~€225,000• Revenues measured as

cost recovery: 10 to 15% of expenses1

Social impact• Agriculture

– 924 farmers using soil analysis

– lower input costsand higher output

• Health – 1,354 pregnant women

screened– early risk detection,

mortality reduction• Employment: 110 jobs

and a job multiplier that ensures additional and better job opportunities for farmers and women


More than 2,000 customerswill be served in firstset of deployments

Pilot withfirst products

Improve healthand agriculture

Grameen IntelSocial Business

Soware assesseshealth and soil status

Sources: Grameen Intel Social Business; Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health; royal norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Note: The “bottom of the economic pyramid” are those “absolutely underprivileged” with incomes below US$2.50 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity). 1To date, the majority of income is nonoperating income from shares sold to Grameen Trust and Intel.

Grameen Intel Social Business Improves Agriculture and Health


Social problem• Underemployment,

poverty, andmalnutrition in Bangladesh

• Women face particular hardship

• Lack of knowledge in the agricultural sector

• Poor agricultural efficiency

Yukiguni Maitake's objectives• Sustainable, safe, and

reliable supply of mung beans for Japanese market

• Stable price level

Product• Cultivation and

processing of large and small mung beans

Price• 7 BDT (Bangladeshi

taka) per kilogram• The price farmers

receive can be higher than the local market pays

Place and promotion• 60% of sales go to

Japan (large beans)• 40% of sales go to

Bangladesh (small beans)

Social business joint venture• Grameen Krishi

Foundation provides local know-how

• Yukiguni Maitake provides product and technical know-how


independenceTotal investment to date • Yukiguni Maitake:

€2 million• Grameen Krishi

Foundation: €20,000

Founded in October 20102012 status• Cultivation in 13

districts across more than 2,000 hectares

• Yield: 1,500 metric tons • Exported 231 metric

tons to Japan• Cultivation is also in

the coastal area despite the salinity problem

• Improved qualityOutlook• Expected to export

more than 1,000 metric tons to Japan

• Will employ 10,000 farmers in 2015

• Will increase yield to 3,000 metric tons in 2015


expenditures: €435,000• Revenues: €237,000Social impact• Employment: 8,000

jobs created in 2012– more than 10,000

jobs will be created by 2014

• On average, farmer's income increased 20% over last year's levels

• Improved quality due to Japanese technical know-how

• Agricultural efficiency increased from 800 kilograms per hectare to 1,200 kilograms per hectare


More than 10,000jobs will be created

Successful commercialcultivation

Increase agriculturalefficiency

Grameen YukiguniMaitake joint venture

Mung beans for localand Japanese market

Source: Grameen Yukiguni Maitake.

Grameen Yukiguni Maitake Will Create More Than 10,000 Jobs in Rural Areas

Social problem• 750,000 blind people• 250,000 people with

ametropia (low vision) problems

• 3 million people with other eye problems

• 600 people blinded as a result of cataracts

• There are only 1,400 ophthalmologists in Bangladesh

• Poverty prevents people from seeking surgery and appropri-ate eye care

Product• Three hospitals

offering general eye examination and special surgery

Price• ~€40 to €320 for

surgery1 • ~20% cheaper than

competitors• Free or subsidized as

necessary Place and promotion• Bogra, Barisal, and

Thakurgaon• Eye camps for the

bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP)

Social business• Operated by Grameen

Health Care Services • Seva Foundation bears

the cost; medical training at Aravind India

• Lavelle Fund and the Calvert Foundation: equipment

• Grants/donations: Green Children Foundation; International Women’s Health Coalition; Shareholders of Grameen Health Care Services, Grameen Telecom Trust, Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Shakti

~€850,000 in funding• Green Children Founda-

tion: ~€650,000• Calvert Foundation:

~€200,000 • International Women’s

Health Coalition: ~€4,000

Founded in 2007Current status• ~545,000 patients

treated through September 2013

• ~320 surgeries a month

• ~237 employees• First hospital broke

even in 2010; second hospital expected to break even in 20152

Outlook• Objectives through

2020– have at least six

hospitals with an ophthalmologist available

– perform ~60,000 cataract surgeries

– treat more than 565,000 patients


expenditures: ~€557,000

• Revenues: ~€542,000• The expenditures are

largely related to the recently established third hospital

Social impact• ~545,000 people

treated to date • Including 20,000

cataract surgeries• Avoided average

cumulative loss for Bangladesh's GDP over the lifetime of treated patients: €4.5 billion

• Employment: ~237 jobs created


Avoidable GDP loss:~€4.5 billion

Break-even pointreached, continuous

scale-up

Lack of eye carefor underprivileged

Standalone socialbusiness

Low-cost or subsidizedeye care

Source: Grameen GC eye Care Hospital.Note: The “bottom of the economic pyramid” are those “absolutely underprivileged” with incomes below US$2.50 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity). 1Price depends on the type of lens used (€1 = 100 Bangladeshi taka (BdT)). 2depreciation is included in the 2015 estimate.

Grameen GC Eye Care Hospital Provides Low-Cost Eye Care


Social problem• Low living standards

and unhealthy environment in rural areas

• Lack of electricity: 70% of households were not connected to electricity

• Indoor air pollution: kerosene stoves pose high fire risk and cause eye irritation due to smoke

Product• Solar home systems• Improved cooking

stoves • Small biogas plantsPrice• Solar home systems

(for 50 watt-peak): ~€290

• two-burner cooking stove: ~€9

• Biogas plant (3.2 square meters): ~€400

Place and promotion• Sales and service via

rural offices• Technical training

for users and maintenance service provided by Grameen Technology Center

Standalone business in cooperation with:• World Bank• Infrastructure

Development Company Limited (IDCOL)

Initial investment of ~€90,000 • USAID and othersKey challenge• Manage high rates of

attrition

Founded in 1996 as not-for-profit businessSocial business since December 2010

Current status• Reached break-even

point in 2000• CAGR: 55% • Market share for solar

home systems: 50% • More than 1.7 million

products soldOutlook• Scale-up planned


expenditures: €71.4 million

• Revenues: €72.77 million

Social impact• 8 million beneficiaries

(customers and their families and neighbors)

• Energy access, improved health environment, reduced deforestation

• ~800,000 tons of carbon dioxide saved per year through biogas, cooking stoves, and solar home systems

• More than 12,000 jobs created


More than 8 million

beneficiaries

Break-even pointachieved in 2000,scale-up planned

Clean energy forrural household

Standalonebusiness

Health- and environment-friendly solutions

Source: Grameen Shakti.

Grameen Shakti Provides Clean Energy to Rural Households

Social problem• Lack of nurses: only 1

nurse for every 6,300 people

• Ratio of nurses to doctors is 1:2 instead of the typical 3:1

• Poor maternal and child health is a persistent problem in Bangladesh

• Lack of access to medical care among poor and rural popula-tions

Partners’ objectives• Empower girls• Prepare nurses to meet

international standards of health care

• Develop leaders and change agents for the future

Product• Nursing/midwifery

school to contribute to nursing health care workforce

• Diploma program for young women from rural areas

Price• ~€3,700 in total (~€100

per month)• Low-interest loans

provided by Grameen Bank

Place and promotion• College in Dhaka• Students must be

daughters of Grameen Bank borrowers

Three partners• School of Health and

Life Sciences, Department of Nursing and Commu-nity Health at Glasgow Caledonian University

• Nike Foundation• Grameen Healthcare

TrustLegal setup• Approval from the

Bangladesh Nursing Council for a degreed program in Nursing and Midwifery

~€310,000 in initial funding• Provided by Nike

Foundation (and student fees)

Founded in January 2010Current status• ~180 applicants in

2012 for 50 seats• ~138 students

currently enrolledOutlook• ~550 students are

expected in 2015 (the break-even point)

• Expanding to 70 students per year

• New programs to start (B.Sc., etc.)



• Revenues: ~€90,000Social impact• Empowerment of

disadvantaged youth• Improved ratio of

nurses to doctors• Positive effect on

maternal and child health


Empower womenas a health

care workforce

Continuousscale-up

from launch

Reduce nurseshortage

Partnership ofthree partners

Health caretraining for girls

Source: Grameen Caledonian College of nursing.

Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing Trains Young Bangladeshi Women


Social problem• Remote Bangladeshis

lack access to a variety of daily consumer products of high quality

• Prices oen exceed customers’ purchasing power

• Few job opportunities in Bangladesh, especially for women

Product• Variety of products:

telecommunication, energy, and health

Price• Affordable for poor• Price is ~10% below

competitors’ pricesPlace and promotion• Distribution and

marketing via shops and the decentralized sales force of Grameen Marketing Network1

Standalone business with partners• BASF• Canadian Solar

Technologies• Grameen Fabrics &

Fashions• Johnson & Johnson • Square Consumer

Products • Lal Teer Seed• ID Group• Tetley ACI Tea€1.4 million in funding in 2012• Grameen Telecom

Trust: 95%• Grameen Kalyan: 5%

Social business since March 2011Current status• 118 employees

around the country• More than 9,000

salespeople• Hit break-even point

in 2011• 568,000 products

sold in 2012Outlook• Extend the social

impact of the product portfolio

Financial status 2012• Operational

expenditures:~€0.4 million

• Cost of goods sold: ~€3.27 million

• Revenues: ~€3.7 million

Social impact• Reaches ~9 million

households in remote areas

• Supplies social and normal daily consumer goods

• Creates 9,000 jobs• Provides income and

empowerment for women


~9 million households in remote areas reached

Started piloting andachieved break-even

point in 2011

Lack of products inremote areas

Standalonebusiness

Social products for therural population

Source: Grameen distribution.1This decentralized sales force employs salespeople in the Grameen Marketing network (GMn); they sell products door to door in rural areas.

Grameen Distribution Sells Essential Products in Remote Areas

Social problem• ~40% of Bangladeshis

are underemployed• Production capacity is

lacking for social products

• Little foreign currency in Bangladesh

Product• Produce goods to

address specific social problems (such as bed nets to combat malaria and dengue)

• Produce products for export to earn foreign currency

• Create employmentPrice• ~€5 for small net• ~€6 for large netPlace and promotion• Production at Social

Business Industrial Park1

Stand-alone business• Chemicals from BASF• Mesh fabric from local

supplierTotal planned investment: €45 million• Grameen Telecom

Trust: ~€7 million• Operations, Grameen

Bank, and other companies: ~€38 million from

Initial investment of: €4.34 million• Grameen Telecom

Trust: ~€3.9 million• Grameen Bank:

~€0.44 million

Production began in February 2012Current status• Capacity: 2,500 nets

per machine per day• Market share is below

1%Outlook• Increase capacity to 3

machines producing 7,500 nets per day

• Composite Knitwear Unit is in development– planned production

of 60,000 ready-made garments per day

– 8,000 employees planned by 2017



• Revenues: €364,600Social impact• Health: protection

against insect-borne diseases for more than 75,000 families

• Employment: ~450 jobs created

• Offers social services for employees, such as a day care center and education for employees’ children

• Earning of foreign currency


Social products andthe provision of jobs

Production willbe scaled up

Fightingunderemployment

Standalone socialbusiness

Jobs in textile-based industry

Source: Grameen Fabrics & Fashions.1Sarabo, kashimpur, Gazipur, dhaka.

Grameen Fabrics & Fashions Creates Employment Opportunities


noTe To The reader

About the AuthorsUlrich Villis is an associate director in the Munich office of The Boston Consulting Group and leader of the firm’s Social Impact practice in Eu-rope. rainer Strack is a senior part-ner and managing director in the firm’s Düsseldorf office. He leads the firm’s People & Organization practice in europe and the Social Impact practice in Germany.

The report is coauthored by Profes-sor Muhammad Yunus, nobel Peace Prize laureate 2006, founder of the Grameen Bank, and early de-veloper and implementer of the so-cial business concept; and Saskia Bruysten, cofounder and CeO of Yu-nus Social Business. Yunus Social Business is the international imple-mentation arm focused on setting up and managing social business incubator funds around the world and collaborating with corporations to create social businesses.

We would also like to acknowledge Marissa Benson, Viviane engels, Frank Meyer, Günter Rottenfußer, and Fabian Uhrich for their support in conducting the study on the ground in Bangladesh and for pre-paring this report.

Finally, we would like to thank kath-erine Andrews, Martha Craumer, Mary deVience, kim Friedman, Brenda Thickett, and the BCG edit-ing and production team for contri-butions to the writing, editing, de-sign, and production of this report.

For Further ContactFor further information about this report or to learn more about BCG’s social impact work, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or contact the authors.

Ulrich VillisAssociate DirectorBCG Munich+49 89 23 17 46 [email protected]

Rainer StrackSenior Partner and Managing DirectorBCG Düsseldorf+49 2 11 30 11 32 [email protected]

For more information about the Grameen network and its various Social Businesses, please contact:

Saskia BruystenCEO and CofounderYunus Social Business+49 69 90 55 90 [email protected]

BCG and Social ImpactBCG is deeply committed to making a difference in the world. We be-lieve that the same insights and ap-proaches we use to solve business problems are applicable to social problems.

Working at the community, region-al, and global levels, we focus our social-impact work on seven areas: poverty and hunger, public health, education, community and econom-

ic development, the environment, arts and culture, and corporate so-cial responsibility. We partner with multilateral organizations, nongov-ernmental organizations, founda-tions, governments, and—for our corporate social responsibility work—with businesses.

AcknowledgmentsMany thanks to all interview and discussion partners who significant-ly contributed to the creation of this report: k.M. Ashaduzzaman (Grameen Health Care Services), ehsanul Bari (Grameen krishi Foundation), Corinne Bazina (Grameen danone Foods), Ahsan Ullah Bhuiyan (Grameen Shakti), Thérèse Blanchet (social anthropol-ogist working for Grameen Veolia Water), Ajoy Chakraborty (Grameen Veolia Water), Melinda daif (danone), John e. davies (Intel World Ahead Program), Fiamma Degl’Innocenti (Yunus Social Busi-ness Centre), Saori dubourg (BASF), Tomoyasu ebana (Grameen Yukigu-ni Maitake), Sophie eisenmann (Yu-nus Social Business), emmanuel Faber (danone), Aam Mahbubul Haque Udoy (Grameen Health Care Services), Zahirul Haque (Grameen distribution), nazmul Haque (Grameen distribution), Ashraful Hassan (Grameen Fabrics & Fash-ions), Isabelle Hellio (Veolia), Sa-jedul “Pavel” Hoq (Grameen Intel Social Business), laëtitia Houdart (Grameen Veolia Water), dr. nazmul Huda (Grameen Caledo-nian College of nursing), kazi Huque (Grameen Intel Social Busi-


ness), Shariful Islam (Yunus Cen-tre), Tanbirul Islam (Yunus Centre), luc Jonveaux (Grameen danone Foods), Abser kamal (Grameen Shakti), Amir khasru (Yunus Cen-tre), eric lesueur (Veolia Water), Asad Mahlende (Grameen Caledo-nian College of nursing), emmanu-el Marchant (danone.ccommunities Fund), lamiya Morshed (Yunus Centre), Shehla nasreen (Grameen Shakti), Professor Barbara Parfitt (Grameen Caledonian College of nursing), Fazley rabbi (Grameen

Shakti), Alexis rawlinson (Yunus Social Business), Benoit ringot (Grameen Veolia Water), Patrick rousseau (Veolia Water), Saria Sadique (BASF), Aelia Schreder (Yunus Centre), Christian Schubert (BASF), Mustafa Shafkat (BASF), Aisha Siddika (Grameen Veolia Water), Imamus Sultan (Grameen Caledonian College of nursing), labib Tarafdar (Yunus Centre), and Satake Yukoh (Grameen Yukiguni Maitake).

© The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved.

For information or permission to reprint, please contact BCG at:e-mail: [email protected]: +1 617 850 3901, attention BCG/PermissionsMail: BCG/Permissions The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. One Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108 USA

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